Piper PA32 N3793W

Summary

On 11 June 2021 at about 01:10 local time, a Piper PA32 registered N3793W, operated by Rocky Mountain Flight School, was involved in an accident near Lafayette, Colorado, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

11 June 2021 at 01:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Lafayette, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

40.0306, -105.1037

Aircraft

Piper PA32

Registration

N3793W

Category

Airplane

Year built

1966

Engines

1

Operator

Rocky Mountain Flight School

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Broomfield → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN21LA261

Nobody was injured.

The flight crew’s improper fuel management that resulted in fuel starvation and the loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The purpose of the instructional flight was for the pilot to receive a checkout in the airplane. Before the flight, the right wing main fuel tank contained 16-18 gallons of fuel, the left wing main fuel tank contained less than 10 gallons of fuel, and both wingtip tanks were completely full (17 gallons each). The pilot and his flight instructor discussed the fuel status before departure and had agreed to operate the engine on the right wing main tank to correct the fuel imbalance between the tanks during the flight. The flight consisted of visual flight rules maneuvers and touch-and-go landings, and about 1.1 hour into the flight the airplane had a loss of engine power about 1,000 ft above the ground while in cruise flight. A forced landing was completed to a nearby field, but shortly after touchdown the airplane collided with a berm that caused the airplane to become airborne again. The nose landing gear collapsed and both wings were substantially damaged when the airplane landed hard the second time. The pilot and his flight instructor both reported that the entire flight had been flown using fuel from the right wing main fuel tank. Neither the pilot nor his flight instructor switched fuel tanks after the loss of engine power because they were focused on the forced landing. The pilot stated that based on the airplane’s performance data, the loss of engine power was likely due to fuel starvation. An onsite examination of the wreckage revealed that the right wing main fuel tank was intact and contained less than ¼ gallon of fuel. According to the airplane’s owner’s handbook, there was about 1 pint of unusable fuel in each of the 4 fuel tanks. The remaining 3 fuel tanks contained usable fuel. Additionally, there were no mechanical malfunctions identified with the airplane’s fuel system or the engine that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.